Loose-nailing machine.



PATENTED MAR. 22, 1904.

NO MODEL.

Patented March 22, 1904.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK D. HAGAR, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO HAGAR SHOEMACHINERY COM'PAN'Y, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A COR- PORATION OF`MAINE.

LOOSE-NAILING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 755,227', dated,March22, 1904.

Application filed March 14., 1903.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK D. HAGAR, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Boston, countyof Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, haveinvented an Improvement in Loose-Nailing Machines, of whichthe followingdescription, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is aspecification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention relates to that type of nailing-machines wherein loosenails in bulk are taken from a suitable hopper by means of a raceway andpresented singly to a driver to be inserted thereby into the work; andit has for its more particular object the production of novel means fortransferring the nails from the lower end of the raceway vto thedriverthroat, through which the nails pass to and are inserted in thework by or through the operation of the driver.

The various novel features of my invention will be described hereinafterin the subjoined specification and particularly pointed out in thefollowing claims.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the upper part or head of anailing-machine with one embodiment of my invention applied thereto.Fig. 2 is front elevation thereof. ,Fig 3 is an enlarged horizontalsection Aon the line 3 3, Fig. l, looking down. Fig. 4. is asimilar'view on the line 4 4.Fig. 2, but' greatly enlarged. Fig. 5 is apartial front elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 4; and Fig. 6 is anenlarged transverse section of the raceway on the line 6 6, Fig. 2,showing a nail in position.

Referring to Figs. l and 2, the upper end of astandard or column A isprovided with a head A', having bearings for a driver-shaft A2, thefront end thereof having a disk a fast thereon and provided with awrist-pin a', connected by a link 1,2 with a cross-head a3, Fig. 2.This, cross-head is vertically reciprocable in a suitable guideway ax inthe upturned part A3 of the head and has secured to it a driver dx. Atits rear end the shaft A2 is provided with a clutch-pulley C of anydesired construction, by means of which the shaft is rotated from asuitable source of power. (Not shown.) The Serial No. 147,711. (Nomodel.)

column A sustains a work support or horn H, which may be of anywell-known construction and which forms no part of my present invention.The base of the head is enlarged and extended forward between the driverand the horn to constitute a base`plate, as A4, in which thedriving-throat is formed, and the nailtransferring means is supported bythe baseplate, as will be described. Alateral bracket ai, secured to orforming a part of the head, sustains a suitable hopper it to receive thenails in bulk, and this hopper will be provided with lifting devices(not shown) to lift the nails and direct them to the upper end of theraceway R,which leads from the hopper to the top or cover plate A5 ofthe base-plate A4.

Referring to Fig. 6, the raceway is shown as substantially rectangularin cross-section, one of its upturned sides r having rigidly secured toits upper edge an inturned coverplate r', the inner edge thereof beingbeveled, as at r2.' The opposite side wall r3 is provided with acover-plate r4, also having its inner edge beveled, as at 1'5; butsaidlplate r4 is adjustably held in place by screws 3, passed throughslots in the plate and into the side wall r3, whereby the slot-likeopening between the beveled edges r2 and r'rcan be varied in width toaccommodate nails having Shanks of different thickness. At its lower endthe raceway is `beveled to rest upon theplate A5, with the slot-likeopening in the top of the raceway registering witha curved slot al? inthe plate A5. The-base-plate A4 has a circular recess w13 in its upperface, Figs. 3, 4, and 5, in which is located the transferrer, shown as atoothed disk or wheel t, secured to an upright rotatable stud tx,extended through the plate A5 and having attached to it a ratchet m. Theslot am is concentric with the teeth t of the transferrer from the lowerend of the raceway to the driving-throat 2 in the base-plate A4 and itscover-plate and located directly beneath the driver dx, the slot-likepassage in the raceway being in a plane substantially tangent to thepitch-line of the transferrerteeth. Said: teeth are separated enough toreceive Dthe shank of the largest nail which may be used with theapparatns,while the heads of the nails rest upon the plate A, theirShanks passing through the slot am and between the teeth t. As thetransferrer is rotated step by step, as will be described, the nailsleave the lower end of the raceway and are taken one by one by thetoothed transferrer and moved forward toward the throat 20, which isformed at the end of the slot .fz/12. A slidepawl m', held in engagementwith the ratchet by a spring s, Fig. 3, is connected by a balland-socketjoint m2, Figs. l and 3, with the lower end of a lever m?, fulcrumed atmx on the head, the upper end of said lever having a roll m4 inengagement with a cam M on the driver-shaft A2. (See Fig. l.) At eachrevolution of said shaft the lever m3 is oscillated to reciprocate thepawl back and forth, and by its engagement with the ratchet m thetransferrer t is rotated step by step, each advance movement thereot`presenting a nail to the throat to be driven and receiving one from theraceway., A detent-pawl m5, Fig. 3, prevents retrogression of theratchet and transferrer.

The nails slide by gravity down the raceway from the hopper to the lowerend thereof and are there picked oif one by one by the toothedtransferrer 25.

In order to adapt the machine to nails having heads of different sizes,I have made the throat 252 adjustable','and to this end the front halfof the throatis formed in a throat-plate tm, the edges of which arebeveled to iit in undercut sides or guideways 22, made in the plate A5,the throat-plate being moved outward to enlarge the throat. A set-screw30, extended transversely from the edge of the plate A",

. bears against one side of the throat-plate and tightly clamps it inadjusted position. By this device I can drive nails having differentsizes of heads and even hob-nails, the throat being adjusted to the sizeof the head of the nail to be used.

In order to avoid widening the transferringslot L12 when the throat isenlarged, I have eut away the top of the throat-plate at the side of thethroat opposite the slot to receive a sliding plate p, having slots ptherein, Figs. 3 and 4, to receive clamping-screws Q5, which enter thethroat-plate beneath. The rear edge of the plate j) is curved, as at p",to form the outer side wall of the slot am, so that by moving the platein when the throat-plate is moved out the width of the slot ismaintained constant, as desired, irrespective of the size of the throatt2". By thus maintaining the width of the transferring-slot uniform Ican use any size of nail so long as its head is wide enough to rest uponthe tops of the side walls of the transferring-slot, the width ot' thelatter being great enough to take in the shanks of maximum thickness.

The machine herein described can be' run at high speed. The nails aretransferred posi- 1. In an apparatus of the class described, a hopperfor the nails, a raceway to convey the nails therefrom, a reciprocatingdriver, a plate having a throat through which the nails are driven intothe work and provided with a curved transferring-slot leading from thelower end of the raceway to the throat, the width of said slot up to thethroat being less than the width of a nail-head, a rotatable, pe-

` ripherally-toothed transferrer adapted to engage the shanks of thenails below said plate and transfer them from the raceway to the throat,the heads of the nails resting upon the top ofthe slotted plate at eachside of the slot and their Shanks depending through the latter, andmeans to reciprocate the transferrer step by step.

2. In an apparatus of the class described, a reciprocating driver, aplate having a throatV through which the nails are driven into the work,said plate having a circularly-curved slot leading to the throat, atransferrer rotatably mounted beneath the slotted plate and having atoothed periphery concentric with said slot, a raceway to deliver nailsto the outer end of the slot, the transferrer engaging the shanks of andtaking the nails one by one from the raceway and moving them through theslot to the throat, and the nail-heads resting upon the top of theslotted plate, and means, including a ratchet axially secured to thetransferrer, and a cooperating pawl, to advance the transferrer onetooth for each reciprocation of the driver.

3. In an apparatus of the class described, a reciprocating driver, aplate having a throat in the driver-path and a nail-transferring slotleading thereto, means to vary the size of the throat to permit the useof nails having heads of different sizes, a raceway to deliver nails tothe outer end of the slot, a rotatable, peripherally toothed transferrerto engage the shanks of the nails below the.slot and move themtherethrough from the raceway to the throat, and means to rotate saidtransferrer step by step. Y

4. In an apparatus of the class described, a reciprocating driver, aplate having a throat in the driver-path and a nail-transferring slotleading thereto, a throat-plate having one side of the throat formedtherein, means to adjust the throat-plate in or out, to vary the size ofthe throat, and an independently-adjustable plate forming a portion ofthe outer wall of the transferring-slot, whereby the width of the lattermay be maintained constant irrespective of the size of the throat.

IOO

IIO

5. In4 an apparatus of the class described, a reciprocating driver, abase-plate having a throat-opening therein and a circular recess in itsupper face, a toothed transferrer rotatably mounted in said recess, acover-plate for the base-plate, having a transferring-slot concentricwith the transferrer, to sustain the nails with their Shanks dependingbetween the teeth ofthe transferrer, said cover-plate having one side ofa driving-throat formed therein, and means adjustably mounted on thecover-plate to complete the throat and vary the size thereof toaccommodate nails having heads of different sizes.

6. In an apparatus of the class described, a rotatable driver-shaft, arecipocating driver operatively connected therewith, a base-plate havingan adjustable throat in the driver-path,

a raceway, a rotatable, toothed transfcrrer to scribing witnesses.

FRANK D. HAGAR.

Witnesses:- ERNEST T. HAYDEN,y

JOSEPH C. CALLANAN.

